🕟 Kick Off: 17:30 GMT

🏟️ Venue: The City Ground

📺 UK Broadcaster: TNT Sports

🙎🏻‍♂️ Referee: Michael Oliver

📹 VAR: Darren England

🔴 Arsenal Team News:

• Piero Hincapié: Groin/Hamstring injury; sustained against Liverpool on Jan 8. He missed the win over Portsmouth and the Chelsea semi-final. Mikel Arteta was cryptic in his Friday press conference, suggesting a late fitness test before the Nottingham Forest match tomorrow.
• Riccardo Calafiori: Muscular injury; Arteta provided a more cautious update today, indicating the defender is facing “several more weeks” on the sidelines. He is ruled out for tomorrow’s trip to the City Ground.
• Cristhian Mosquera: Ankle injury; progressing well but is not yet back in full training. Arteta confirmed he is still “a few weeks away” from a return.
• Max Dowman: Ankle ligament damage; the youngster’s recovery timeline mirrors Mosquera’s. He remains out and is not expected back until early February.

⚽ Arsenal Form: 🟩🟩🟧🟩🟩

🌳 Nottingham Forest Team News:

• Chris Wood: Knee injury (surgery); has not featured since October. Sean Dyche confirmed he is making “slow but sure progress” but remains ruled out for the Arsenal match. Expected return: early February 2026.
• John Victor: Knee injury (minor operation); sustained against Aston Villa earlier this month. He is ruled out with no firm return date yet, but expected to be out until late February 2026.
• Oleksandr Zinchenko: Ineligible/Injury; as he is on loan from Arsenal, he cannot play against his parent club. He is also managing a minor hip issue. He will be unavailable for this fixture.
• Ryan Yates: Hamstring injury; the club captain has been out since December but returned to full training this week. He is a doubt but could feature if he passes a late fitness test.

⚽ Nottingham Forest Form: 🟧🟩🟥🟥🟥

⚔️ Head-to-Head:

• Arsenal 3-0 Nottingham Forest (Sept 13, 2025, Premier League)
• Nottingham Forest 0-0 Arsenal (Feb 26, 2025, Premier League)
• Arsenal 3-0 Nottingham Forest (Nov 23, 2024, Premier League)
• Nottingham Forest 1-2 Arsenal (Jan 30, 2024, Premier League)
• Arsenal 2-1 Nottingham Forest (Aug 12, 2023, Premier League)

📖 Match Facts:

• Sean Dyche teams have never scored more than one goal in a meeting against Arsenal.
• Bukayo Saka has 5 G/A in his last 5 appearances against Nottingham Forest.
• Nottingham Forest currently average 1.1 goals per game, the third lowest in the Premier League.

✍🏼 Pre-Match Ramblings

Arsenal return to Premier League action after a brief detour to the domestic cups which saw them progress into the 4th round of the FA Cup, and beat Chelsea by one goal at Stamford Bridge in the first leg of League Cup Semi Final. A trip to Forest is a favourable match to return to given the home side’s standing in the league and some dreary looking statistics heading into this game. Nottingham Forest do not score many goals, and Arsenal do not concede many. A match made in heaven for Arteta?

Prior to our match a derby will be played in Manchester at Old Trafford where the Red Devils will welcome a Man United side in turmoil headed up by interim coach Michael Carrick. Just two weeks ago we saw a Chelsea team with a caretaker coach take points off of City, could it happen again against their neighbours?

Our last outing the Premier League saw us drop points to a Liverpool side that on paper we really should’ve beaten, especially at home. The response since then has been good, but in competitions that don’t come close to the importance of the Premier League. A win here will cap off an excellent week, but anything other than three points would wipe away any good feelings from the cup wins. These are the games that should be a walk in the park for a title winning side. Away to a team one place above relegation? No doubt, we should be brushing them aside. But you know the saying, anything can happen in football.